Damage Control
by The Little House Scribe
Summary: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Ronald Billius Weasley wishes to avoid a repeat of history.


It was a good day to be Harry Potter, for it was on this day that Harry finished work early. And, you (along with all his colleagues) know what that means: More time with Ginny.

The prospect was, as I'm sure you'll agree, quite distracting for the young auror, so I'm sure you can forgive (Alastor Moody wouldn't) the lapse in alertness which allowed Mr Potter to be taken by surprise.

"Ron." Harry came to a stop in the hall. "I didn't realise you were off early too."

Ron raised an eyebrow and wand, taking Harry, again, by surprise.

"Is something wrong, Ron?" Harry asked, preparing to defend himself if necessary, but unwilling to hex his best friend without having an inkling of an idea of what was going on.

"I should hope there won't be…" Ron began ominously, "I'm sure we can come to an… agreement."

"Agreement? Ron, what're you on about? You're acting really strangely…" Harry observed. "And you're wasting my Ginny time."

For some reason, the mention of Ginny's name ignited Ron. Harry noticed this, but was in no mood for Ron's issues.

"What? Come on Ron! I thought you got past this years ago!"

Ron glared at Harry. "I'm not your enemy here, Harry."

"Oh really?" Harry shook his head. "Well, just stand here wallowing in your own insecurities if you want. I'm going to spend my evening with Ginny."

"About that…"

"RON! I promised I'd go down to grocers to pick up a bunch of artichokes; and they close in ten minutes. I suggest you don't make me blame you for Ginny missing her artichoke tea."

"If you'd just wait…"

"It's utterly ridiculous Ron; Ginny and I are adults, capable of making our own decisions. We're expecting a baby, for Merlin's sake!"

"Just because one mistake was allowed to happen doesn't mean a precedent should be set." Ron stated.

"You're the only one with a problem, Ron." Harry heard familiar footsteps approach them. "Now you're the only one who's got the idea that you can interfere in our relationship."

"No, he isn't, Harry."

Harry slowly turned around and found himself looking past the outstretched wand-holding arm and into the determined eyes of Hermione Granger.

"Et tu, Hermione?" Harry queried. Harry had thought Hermione would be on his side, and he would be strolling away whilst Hermione berated Ron for his interference in the relationships of others. But, for some inexplicable reason, it seemed that Hermione was on Ron's side.

Hermione, looking quite abashed, nodded. "We're sorry to have to do this."

"But," Ron stepped up to encourage her. "We'll go through till the very end."

"We don't want to have to do this, Harry." Hermione said. "However, recent events have… forced us to take action."

"What? You're going to curse me in the hallway?"

"Of course not." Hermione looked shocked.

"We're willing to talk." Ron stated. "The question is, are you?"

##

Five minutes later, Harry, Ron and Hermione were stepping out of the fireplace and into the Burrow. Mrs Weasley wore a broad grin as she bustled over to the three.

"Are you three staying for dinner? We've got a lovely roast in the oven and…"

"No thank you, Molly." Harry declined her offer quickly before Ron could gleefully accept it. "I'm just going to be here for a couple of minutes." Harry eyed Ron and Hermione, trying to get them to broach whatever they wanted discussed.

"Mum," Ron began. "Harry has agreed to discuss…the matter we spoke about."

Mr Weasley, who had, up to that point, been sitting at the table, face blocked by the Daily Prophet, placed the newspaper down and beckoned Harry over.

"I'm glad you came, Harry." Harry nodded. "This is…hard for all of us, Harry. We don't want to have to do this, but, well… It's a necessity."

"Should I call Ginny…?" Harry asked, not mentioning that he'd already done so; the message informing her that it was The Family acting Weird in the Burrow.

"Perhaps that won't be necessary, Harry. We wanted to discuss this with you first…" Mrs Weasley said.

"As you might have guessed, the recent happenings of the Potter Household are not only at the forefront of this intervention; they are the direct cause of it." Hermione said.

"We had hoped, foolishly, I admit, that this wouldn't ever be necessary," Ron said. "Now we see the error of our ways. We cannot allow the moniker 'Pariah Potter.' To be used."

"What you're trying to say is?" Harry asked.

"If you continue to do certain things…" George, coming through the door with Angelina said. "You'll get hurt."

"And others will too; so, Harry, please, consider this for a moment." Angelina finished.

"Will you stop beating around the bush with this?" Harry shouted. "For goodness sakes, would you just come out and say it!"

"I'm sure you can work out what we're trying to get at, Harry." Hermione said, shuffling her feet.

"Yeah. Yeah, I can work it out. But why don't you have the guts to come out and say it, Ron? This was your idea, wasn't it?"

"Fine. Alright." Ron said gruffly. "I didn't want to say straight. I wanted to you to get it and be able to leave with some dignity."

"Hermione!" Harry cut over Ron. "Would you appreciate it if Ginny and I decided to do this to you and Ron?"

"You wouldn't need to!" Ron replied before Hermione could speak. "There would never be a problem with Hermione."

"Good to see you've mastered your compliments, Ron. May your abilities with the English language take you far in this world."

"Ginny…" Ron said apprehensively, creeping away from her direction.

"Ginny!" Harry cried out elatedly, eagerly moving towards her person.

"Ahh…" George said; facing Potters United. "It seems the tide has turned against us."

"Do we struggle against it, or do we allow pragmatism its place, and return when conditions are favourable?" Angelina asked.

"It would be foolish to try tonight."

"To try…what, Ron?" Ginny asked, the smooth tone of her voice masking the dangerous undertone.

"Flambéed Parsnip Pie." Ron made up on the fly.

"A wise choice Ron. You stay away from our Parsnip pie." Ginny warned. "Come, Husband, our culinary delicacies await us."

Arm in arm, the Potters strutted out of the Burrow.

"Well that didn't go too well." George grimaced.

"I'm sure Harry got the idea…" Hermione said.

"He better have. I don't want another Pigwidgeon."

##

"Harry, what was that about?"

"Ginny….Sometimes your family is really, really strange."

"Our family, Harry." Ginny smiled at him. Harry smiled back; for now, all was well.


End file.
